Grid for fluid fuel stoves



July 6, 1948. 5 J THQMES 2,444,862 I GRID FOR FLUID FUEL STOVES FiledNOV. 23, 1944 I0 3 ah I.

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F II I T1 22 INVENTOR. EDWIN u. THONIIES.

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Patented July 6, 1948 UNITED STATES EN? OFFICE GRID FOR FLUID FUELSTOVES Application November 23, 1944, Serial No. 564,766

Claims. 1

The improvements relate to grids extending over the cooking holes of oilor gas stoves and particularly the former, but may be employed in anyanalogous use to which they may be adaptable. They also relate to meanscooperative with the said grid for positioning and holding in place theperforated sheet metal chimneys or combustion tubes and their outerjackets-commonly called "drums--of an oil stove or range.

Among the objects of the improvements are the construction of the gridof light, resilient, tough and durable wire or other attenuated metalformed into a series of loops or cross bars spanning the cooking hole oropening and resting on its edges, and connected with the top of thestove adjacent its edges directly, without the use of any connectingparts or interposed members and in such a manner that it is securelyheld in its proper position but may be removed and replaced or turned upto uncover the opening by a simple manipulation; to provide means in thegrid for securely but detachably engaging :a clip or other device inturn detachably engaging the drum of an oil stove, the two devicescooperating with each other, so that -the said chimney will be held inplace thereby without the need of employing twisted wires interlockedwith the grid and drum, which must be first secured together at theirends and finally cut or broken and removed, or packing the chimney ordrums separately and then placing the package inside the stoveunsecured, asheretofore practiced with unsatisfactory results and at aconsiderable expense for labor and materials: to so construct the gridthat it does not intercept or interfere with the combustion issuing fromthe drum and permits it to play upon the bottom of a cooking or heatingvessel on the hole, while at the same time providing a firm and adequatesupport and spacer for the vessel.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the followingspecification in which an illustrative embodiment of the improvements isdescribed and in which the accompanying drawings are referred to. In thesaid drawings- Fig. 1 is a perspective view from above of a detachedportion of a stove top with grid, spring clip and combustion drumassembled thereon;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the top and grate inoperating position and disconnected from the clip and drum;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the topsubstantially on the line 33 ofFig. 1 showing the grid turned up and in side'el'evation;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 1 showing a 2 modified .form ofdrum-holding clip assembled with the other parts illustrated in Fig. -1;and

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the clip partlyshown in Fig. 1.

The stove or range top I is of usual sheet metal construction and hasone or more cooking holes 2 therein. The cooking hole or 'oper'i ing inthe present case is substantially rectangular'a nd the :grid 3 covers anarea'approxim'ately of that form and corresponds to the opening roughlyin size, extending a little beyond :it at front and back so as to haveits extremities supported the top. adjacent the edges of the openin Thisgrid 3 is composed of a continuous r-piece of'heavy steel Wire formedinto loops 3%, 3 and 3 spanning the opening from front to back, allthree extending 'a short distance over the top l and the 'ends 3 of thewire being turned down substantially at right angles to the plane of thegrid and the top, and passed through slots-14 in the top at the rear ofsaid opening. There is a space between the sides of the opening and theside bars of the loops 3 and 3 to "permit the passage of combustion andits heated products from the burner drum and to give them free access toa vessel or other cooking utensil supported onzthe grid. The spacesbetween the bars of the grid are so wide relatively that there ispractically no obstruction to the neat and combustion of the burner, thelooped ends of the grid being beyond the opening and offering noobstruct-ion. This would also be the case if the opening were round orelliptical or ofso-me {other form. At the same time the heavy resilientwire of which the grid is formed affords ample and even "support for theheaviest cooking utensils, and because the wires are rounded andslightly yielding they do not dent, cause abrasionor-other damage to andare not damaged by these uten sils. It will thus be seen that theresilient wire grid not only effects economy in materials and labor andprovides an efiective and stable supiport but permits an evenandunobstructed-spread of the combustion and its hot gases Cover the entirecooking space.

Ihe slots which receive and hold the turned down ends 3 of the grid Wireare disposed par.-

allel with the straight, bars of the grate when the said bars "are innormal position. The bars are also slightly spread so that their endsare spaced apart a little more than the slots, and therefore whencontracted and inserted in "the slots then released these ends will bearagainst the side edges oi'the slots and hold their .posiz v tion thereinbyfrictional 'coaction. Theenils 3 are also turned sidewise towardopposite ends of the top as well as bent down, so as to additionallyinsure against accidental displacement.

By having the holes 4 in the form of slots several advantages aresecured, among them accommodation for expansion and contraction of thegrid 3 under the wide variations in temperature to which it is subjectedand the prevention of binding between the edges of the slots and theangle between the horizontal rods of the grid and the turned down ends 3when the grid is turned up to give access to the interior of the stovethrough the opening 2. In order to facilitate the turning up of the gridand .to hold it in upright position the extremity of the loop 3 iswithin the hooked ends .i by about the thickness of the stove top 1 (seeFig. 3), so that when the grid is turned up on the grid ends the saidloop extremity will bear against the upper surface and the turned downends 3 against the under surface of the top, and due to the resiliencyof the wire of which the grid is formed will graspthe top with a springgrip and retain-the grid in its upright position. To facilitate this,and also to prevent abrasion of the top finish a small wear plate 6 iswelded or otherwise secured to the top at the point where the extremityof the loop 3 engages it in this position. This quick and easy removalof the grid from over the cooking opening without disconnecting it fromthe top greatly facilitates the removal of the combustion drum throughthe opening for cleaning or other purposes and for cleaning of the oiltrough or wicks and wick tubes beneath it and on which it is positionedin use, as well asthe cleaning of the grid. The combustion drum, as wellas the other parts of the burner, is of usual construction, the drumconsisting of an outer imperforate jacket or shield 1 and spaced innerperforated sheet metal cylinders 8 and 9, rigidly connected, the latternumeral referring to the imperforate cap of the inner perforatedcylinder, which is provided with a central vent opening 9'.

To provide for the securement of the combustion drum in the stove forpacking, shipping and handling, a spring clip i composed of a strip ofresilient sheet metal or other attentuated material is provided, andthis strip is bent into approximately mushroom form with laterallyexpanding and slightly up-turned ends l0, so that it can be contractedat its bottom, passed through the opening 9' and permitted to expand.The loop 3 is then passed through the loop of the clip, after beingslightly contracted, and the connected parts placed in position, asshown in Fig. 1, where they will be securely held by the grid, which inturn is secured by the bent ends 3 engaging in the slots 4. Thisdispenses with the need for wires passed through the drum and portionsof the grid and twisted together at its ends or separate packing of thedrum, and effects a great saving in labor and materials. The drum may bequickly and easily secured to the grid or removed therefrom by simplyslipping the loop 3 through the loop of the clip ID.

Instead of the clip I!) a strip of sheet metal H (Fig. 4) may be passedunder the top of the outer jacket 1 and the loop 3 passed thereunder andover the top of the drum. The clip It! may be permitted to remain inposition in the top of the drum if desired and may also be elongatedvertically so that the drum may be seated on the burner while stillconnected with the grid so that the drum may be raised by the grid whennot in use to remove it from the oil wet wick tubes or oil troughto'prevent creeping of the oil thereon.

Various modifications of the exemplary embodiment of the improvementsdescribed and shown herein may be made without departing from the scopeof the invention. Thus, the wire of the grid may be made angular or ofother cross sectional form and the clip l0 may be made round in crosssection. The specific form of the grid may also be varied within certainlimits and without impairing its functions.

The burner has not been illustrated as it may be of any well known wickor wickless form, such as those shown and described in many priorpatents which show and describe burners of both wick and wickless typewith combustion drums mounted thereon forming a part of the burner orcombustion unit, and to which reference may be had for details ofconstruction not herein set forth.

I claim:

1. In a fluid fuel stove, a cooking top, a burner below said top, saidtop having a cooking opening above and aligned with the burner, a gridcomposed of wire-like metal shaped to form a plu rality of loopsextending across said opening and having their ends resting upon andsupported by said top, the extremities of said wire-like metal beingnormally engaged with the top, said top having small recesses therein atone side of said cooking opening into which'said extremities are passedto form a hinge connection on which said grid may be turned to uprightposition, the end of one of said loops terminating inwardly of saidextremities with respect to the cooking opening a distance approximatelyequal to the thickness of the said top and bearing against the said topwhen said grid is in upright position.

2. In a fluid fuel stove, a cooking top, a burner below said top, saidtop having a cooking opening above and aligned with the burner, 'a gridcomposed of metal of relatively great length and small diameter; shapedto form a plurality of bars extending across said opening and havingtheir ends resting upon and supported by said top, the extremities ofsaid metal being normally engaged with the top, said top having smallrecesses therein at one side of said cooking opening into which saidextremities are passed to form a connection between said grid and top,acombustion drum forming apart of said burner located below said cookingopening, an elongated piece of metal material engaging said drum belowsaid opening and extending above the top of the drum, one of said barsbein passed between said drum top and said piece of material to form aholding and positioning connection between the grid, drum and top and ahinged member on which said drum may be turned to a position above saidcooking top.

3. In a fluid fuel stove, a cooking top, a burner below said top, saidtop having a cooking opening above and aligned with the burner, a gridcomposed of metal of relatively great length and small diameter; shapedto form a plurality of bars extending across said opening and havingtheir ends resting upon and supported by said top, the extremities ofsaid metal being normally engaged with the top, said top having smallrecesses therein at one side of said cooking opening into which saidextremities are passed to form a connection between said grid and top, acombustion drum forming a part of said burner located below said cookingopening, an elongated piece of resilient metal engaging said drum belowsaid opening and extending above the top of the drum, one of said barsbeing passed between said drum top and said piece of material undertension to form a holding and positioning connection between the grid,drum and top and a hinged member on which said drum may be turned to aposition above said cooking top.

4. In a fluid fuel stove, a cooking top, a burner below said top, saidtop having a cooking opening above and aligned with the burner, a gridcomposed of metal of relatively great length and small diameter; shapedto form a plurality of bars extending across said opening and havingtheir ends resting upon and supported by said top, the extremities ofsaid metal being normally engaged with the top, said top having smallrecesses therein at one side of said cooking opening into which saidextremities are passed to form a connection between said grid and top, acombustion drum forming a part of said burner located below said cookingopening, an elongated piece of material engaging said drum below saidopening and extending above the top of the drum, said piece of materialhaving a loop at its upper part, one of said first-named bars beingpassed through the last-named loop to form a holding and positioningconnection.

5. In a fluid fuel stove, a cooking top, a burner below said top, saidtop having a cooking opening above and aligned with the burner, a gridcomposed of metal of relatively great length and small diameter shapedto form a plurality of bars extending across said opening and havingtheir outer portions resting upon and supported by said top between itsedges and said opening and above said opening, the extremities of saidmetal being turned downwardly so as to be disposed substantially normalto the plane of the top, said top having small openings thereon at oneside of said cooking opening through which said downwardly turnedextremities are passed downwardly a distance sufiici'ent to form a hingeand to removably connect the grid with the top and enough whereby thesame acts as a means to limit backward movement of the grid when raised,said small openings being normally spaced a slightly different distancethan the distance between said downwardly turned extremities, so thatthere is frictional engagement between said extremities and the edges ofsaid small openings.

EDWIN J. THOMES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 432,847 Wilder July 22, 1890452,118 Edson May 12, 1891 715,283 Neff Dec. 9, 1902 796,380 Wilder Aug.1, 1905 963,922 McDaniels July 12, 1910 1,079,767 J eavons et al Nov.25, 1913 1,276,795 Nelson Aug. 27, 1918 1,337,524 Levy Apr. 20, 19201,408,235 Wilcox Feb. 28, 1922 1,434,151 Rollins Oct. 31, 1922 1,544,651Klinert July 7, 1925 1,706,886 Kiler Mar. 26, 1929 1,716,179 Mack June4, 1929 1,738,297 Hoffman Dec. 3, 1929 2,357,699 Stark Sept. 5, 1944FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 382,040 Great Britain Oct. 20, 193225,621 Sweden Oct. 3, 1908

